Monthly Cooking Thread - September 2019

[Liz]

A nice healthy breakfast for schoolkids rushing out the door---or put one in a lunch box.

BREAKFAST BARS / Makes: 16 chewy chunky bars

PREP Warm can condensed milk.

BATTER Mix 250g rolled oats (not instant), 75g shredded coconut 100g dried cranberries, 125g mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame), 125g natural unsalted peanuts; then add warmed condensed milk; rubber or wooden spatula to fold and distribute ing.

Spread into oiled 9x13" tin; press down w/ spatula (better w/ hands in disposable vinyl gloves); even surface.

Bake 250 deg an hour; remove to counter; cool 15 min; cut four across, four down into 16 chunky bars. Let cool completely.

[smvoice]

If you live in Virginia, you have THE BEST mustard in the world! Fuller’s Mustard is a delicious sweet and spicy mustard, great with grilled Kielbasa, perogies, and cabbage rolls. These dishes are not the same without that mustard!

[Liz]

Oh my.......crescent rolls for a perfect simple on the go breakfast danish. Easily doubled.
Can do night before. Add a dab of cherry, lemon or apple pie filling for variety.

EASY CREAM CHEESE DANISH

ING 8 unbaked Crescent Rolls,4 oz Cream Cheese. 1/2 cup Sugar, 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla, 2 tbsp melted Butter, 1/2 cup conf, 2 tsp Milk

PREP Beat cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla til blended.

METHOD Unroll dough into 4 rectangles and seal perforations by pinching.Brush each rectangle with melted butter and sprinkle with a tablespoon of sugar. Roll each up log and pinch to seal. Coil into a spiral and slightly press down middle to make room for cream cheese filling.

Place on greased cookie sheet.Top each with about 1/4 of cream cheese mixture.

Bake 350 deg golden brown (16-18 minutes). Drizzle w/ combined conf, milk, teaspoon vanilla stirred smooth.

[Jamestown1630]

I’m not in Virginia - my paternal line was there from the 1600s until 1918, when they came to DC - but I love pierogis, and I’ll try and find the mustard.

[Jamestown1630]

That’s enticing - and you’re sabotaging my attempt at low-carb :-)

[Liz]

........make them after you drop the pounds...........

[Jamestown1630]

Sigh...that’s how the pounds return ;-)

There’s a saying that one bite of something tastes as good as eating the whole thing. I’ve never gotten my head around that, though.

[kalee]

I need a appetizer for a covered dish next Sunday. I will try your recipe! Thanks!

[Liz]

An easy Asian dish. Homemade teriyaki and a Sriracha cream sauce that is dynamite.

TERIYAKI SALMON / SRIRACHA CREAM SAUCE

CREAM SAUCE Mix 1/2 c mayo, 2-3 tb Sriracha*, 1 1/2 tb sweet/cond/milk. Let meld.

TERIYAKI BTB on med, 1/4 c ea soy sauce, br/sugar, 1/2 tea grnd ginger, 1/4 tea gar/pwder,
2 tb honey, cup water; at the simmer, stir in tb cornstarch slurry, cook/thicken 2 min (coats spoon); cool on counter.

SALMON Ziploc teriyaki, 2 salmon filets; steep 30 min (up to 24 hrs), turn occa.

FINAL Set into sprayed 8×8" baker; bake 400 deg 20 min (flakes easily).

SERVE immediately drizzled with Sriracha cream sauce over a bed of steamed rice.

[Liz]

Put this in your fall file. You'll be glad you did. ALWAYS gets recipe requests.
Lower fat version saves 70 cals w/ f/f milk, 2 pkg s/f JELL-O Vanilla Instant Pudding and COOL WHIP LITE.

Praline Pumpkin Mousse

MOUSSE Whisk 2 min cup cold milk, 15 oz can plain pumpkin, 2-3.4 oz pkg JELL-O Vanilla Instant Pudding,
1-1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (will be thick), add 2 c thawed COOL WHIP. Chill in footed dessert glasses 4 hours.

SPRINKLE w/ Praline just before serving.

PRALINE 1/2 cup chp PLANTERS Pecans, Tb melted butter, 1/3 c br/sugar.

[Liz]

A very addictive pasta dish....too bad its quick and easy.
Depending on bacon pieces size, add first so they get crispy.
Use farfalle, or other sturdy fave-- not spaghetti or angel hair.

ASPARAGUS BACON PASTA

METHOD Saute small diced onion/1/2 c diced bacon/olive oil (bacon is crispy/onions translucent);
add 1/2 tea gar/powder halfway through. Add 3/4 c white wine; cook down a bit on high (alcohol aroma dwindles).
Add lge can crushed Redpack tomatoes. S/p; add bit sugar, thyme; stir well. Simmer 20 min.
Stir in 1/4 c h/cream; adjust seasoning. Add cooked asparagus, drained pasta; toss together.

[Liz]

Just discovered a terrific kitchen tip. If you have your own food freeze-dryer, that's great. There's lots of web sites that sell freeze-dried foods in bulk.
I never used the product but I can see the possibilities...new flavor avenues to amp up dishes.....sweet and savory.

What a great idea----processing freeze-dried pineapple tidbits to a powder to infuse white chocolate truffle filling.

PINEAPPLE TRUFFLES Use 66% cocoa chocolate for the outer chocolate layer.

ING 1/2 oz freeze dried pineapple 2 oz white chocolate melting wafers oz h/cream 4 oz dark chocolate Pineapple-shaped Silicone Ice Cube/Candy Mold

METHOD Micro white chocolate and cream 20 - 25 seconds; stir until smooth. Add pineapple powder to ganache; mix/combine. Refrigerate 2 hours.Melt 1/2 dark chocolate in bain over simmering water. When almost completely melted, offheat, stir until completely melted and smooth. Add about a scant 1/2 tsp to each pineapple candy mold. Use the measuring spoon to push the melted chocolate around to cover all surfaces, nooks and crannies with a thin layer of chocolate. Let set 5 min in freezer.

Pipe the pineapple ganache mixture into the frozen chocolate shells in the mold, leaving enough space at the top for another layer of dark chocolate. Add about 1/2 teaspoon of melted dark chocolate over the ganache to cover it. Tap the mold on the counter to even out the new layer of chocolate. Let set in the freezer for 10 - 15 minutes. Take the candy mold out of the freezer and remove the truffles. Melt the rest of the dark chocolate in a heat proof bowl over a simmering pot of water and repeat the process to form the rest of the truffles.

[Jamestown1630]

That looks good. I get ads for that home freeze-dryer, but it will have to be another retirement hobby. The Excalibur dehydrator is taking up all the extra space I have right now.

I bought one of those silicone molds last week, because my husband wants to try these ‘fat bombs’:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5JgeZMq-98

[Liz]

You could spend a fortune———there’s a silicone mold for everything under the sun.

The Pineapple Truffle cook bought her pineapple shapes in
(ta da) Hawaii.....said she paid a lot but had to have them.

Sounds familiar.

[Jamestown1630]

We bought the same one that Dot has in that video - not expensive at all.

(Depending on the ingredient, it seems that grinding up the freeze-dried items could result in very intense flavor. I think I’ve read about doing that with dried mushrooms as a flavoring.)

[Liz]

One of the premier chefs does a fantastic soup topping.....infusing creme fraiche with a powder of processored dry mushrooms.

[Liz]

Soft, chewy almond cookies w/ bright raspberry flavor (thanks to the addition of freeze-dried raspberries).
These would be a nice carber's treat---except for the sugar.

Raspberry Amaretti Cookies

Ingredients: 2 1/4 cups (200g) almond flour or very finely ground almonds, sifted cup sugar
1 ounce freeze-dried raspberries (about 1/4 cup powder) pinch salt 2 lge egg whites 1/4 tsp lemon juice 1/2 tsp almond extract

PREP Stack two matching, heavyweight, light to medium colored cookie sheets one inside the other
(stacking keeps the bottoms of the cookies from getting too brown). Add parchment or silicone baking mat.

Finely grind freeze dried raspberries in a food processor or spice grinder to a until fine powder.

BATTER whisk almond flour, sugar, and freeze dried raspberries until evenly incorporated. In a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk egg whites and lemon juice until they hold soft peaks. Add beaten egg whites and almond extract to dry ingredients and stir until mixture forms a soft, sticky dough, kneading with your hands if necessary. No need to be gentle here, we’re not making maccarons.

Lightly dust hands w/ powdered sugar. Use a small cookie scoop to portion dough into 1-inch balls. Roll into a smooth ball, then roll in powdered sugar. Arrange on parchment or silicon-lined baking sheets, leaving 1 inch of space between cookies.

Bake 400 deg 30 to 35 minutes until tops are cracked and bottoms are just barely golden (if you are NOT using doubled cookie sheets your cookies will brown much quicker, and will likely only need 25 minutes, so watch them closely). If you prefer crunchier cookies you can give them an extra 5 minutes or so or until the tops begin to brown too. Remove from oven; let cool a few minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Cookies will keep at room temperature in an airtight bag or container, for up to 5 days.

[bgill]

WARNING

I’ve had to throw out 3 bottled grocery items just this month.

Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing - the green paper seal at the top did not cover the flip lid so was useless. There also wasn’t a foil/paper seal inside at the rim so anyone could flip open the top and have full access to the dressing. That also means it wasn’t preserved.

Kraft Catalina Dressing - today, had to throw away this new bottle because the foil/paper seal inside wasn’t sealed. Again, the flip top wasn’t sealed shut with the paper label. When I cut the paper bottle neck seal at the lid, there was an air noise meaning the foil/paper seal hadn’t been sealed tight so it wasn’t preserved. I shouldn’t have but tasted a bit of it and it tasted bad. DON’T DO THAT!

HEB mouth wash (store brand Listerine) - It was sealed with plastic but tasted like dirty old socks. First time I used it, I got the poops (TMI) but didn’t realize the connection. A few days later, I used it again and more poops. I waited a few weeks and chalked it up to maybe a coincidence so used it a third time and poops again.

That’s three products from three different companies. I don’t remember having to throw away products before this. Something is going on so please be aware. Check your grocery products very carefully.

I’ve also noticed an increase of damaged packaging on boxes and fresh produce bags. Damaged packaging is normal but lately have noticed packaging that shows no sign of any attempt at sealing it closed. Lettuce plastic covering has not tape. Flour bags not glued shut. Potato flakes top showed no sign of glue.

Another concern are the plastic cartons for berries. The tops press closed but it takes no effort to open them and there’s always one that has either popped open on its own or a customer opened it. A couple months ago, I had to report a bunch of kids, within eye shot of their burly mama, were eating one strawberry out of every carton. That’s not only NASTY and who knows what else for the other customers but it’s cheating on the price.

[Liz]

At the Trumps’ second state dinner, a garden party under the stars

President Trump and first lady Melania are hosting Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his wife, Jenny Morrison, with a menu the White House said “highlights the lush, late summer season across the vast lands of America.”

The bounty of produce that will be served to guests in the Rose Garden includes sunchokes, which will be served roasted, pureed and encased in ravioli, and dressed with a lemony Parmigiano-Reggiano sauce. Bonus veggies come in the form of shavings of sun-gold carrots, baby kale and sunchoke chips atop the first-course pasta dish.

The entree, Dover sole, served with a fennel mousseline (a rich, hollandaise-adjacent sauce) has a classic feel. It’s accompanied by summer squash blossoms, whose green and gold hues echo the decor — and, certainly not coincidentally, the colors of the guest country.

Hyperlocal sourcing is in effect, with herbs from the White House garden topping a rouille, a mayonnaise-like condiment spiked with garlic.

Also traditional is the dessert, a gussied-up apple pie made with Lady apples from Pacific Northwest and Mid-Atlantic trees. The tart is accompanied with a scoop (or two, if you’re the commander in chief?) of ice cream spiked with Calvados, an apple brandy that offers a double dose of the trademark American fruit.

[Liz]

Classic French Dover Sole Meuniere / 4 Servings

2-12/14 oz Holland Dover Sole, s/p, 2 Tb Flour, 6 Tsp Blended Olive Oil (Not EVO) 8 Tb Unsalted Butter, 4 Lemon halves

METHOD S/p fish. Dust both sides with flour, shake off excess. All visible flesh should be dusted. Heat oil in n/s fry pan.
Add fish, lower the heat slightly and add 3 tb butter. Sauté on moderate heat 6–7 min. Then, carefully turn;
place in 400 deg oven 4-5 min til cooked through. Liftout to server and keep warm. Repeat with second fish.

BUTTER SAUCE Discard frying oil; wipe pan clean. Add rest butter; melt on moderate heat.
When butter is slightly brown, squeeze in lemons, add chp Italian parsley and final seasoning.

SERVE fish w/ warm Butter Sauce, strewn with tiny Italian parsley bouquets, and lemon slices with scalloped edges.